2022 Volkswagen Tiguan

The 2022 Volkswagen Tiguan sits in the back half of the second-generation cycle (launched 2018), and its federal record tells a mixed story. Complaints had been declining steadily from the 2018 redesign's launch-year spike of 274 down to a relative low of 128 in 2021, but 2022 reverses that trend sharply with 245 complaints — nearly double the prior year — while recalls hold steady at five, matching 2021. The top complaint areas are engine-related (47 engine, plus 11 combined engine/fuel-propulsion), followed by unknown/other (16) and electrical (12), with three crash complaints and zero fire complaints; the data does not specify root causes for any of these categories. Meanwhile, TSBs continue their uninterrupted decline from 741 in 2018 to 453 in 2022, suggesting VW's service documentation has matured even as complaint volume rebounded. The 2023 model year sees a dramatic drop to 58 complaints and a single recall, which may indicate that many 2022 issues were addressed in production, though it could also partly reflect the shorter time those newer vehicles have been on the road. Given the unexplained complaint spike and the fact that 2023 shows a far cleaner federal record at similar price points in the used market, the 2022 Tiguan is a year to approach with caution — a 2023 model is likely the smarter buy if budget permits.